Free Web NovelChapter 452: Chapter 339: The Embassy!
The case his student took on....
Professor Zhang still remembered that Wu Chengjun had clawed an original manuscript out of his own stash and given it to Xu Liang, and even a few books with print runs in the single digits, all handed over to Xu Liang.
Back in the first trial, that case was decided with a fine of forty-seven million.
He’d already been stunned, because civil compensation in a criminal case being that high was practically unheard of!
Then not long after, news came that Xu Liang had filed an appeal for the second instance. Professor Zhang was instantly puzzled, but didn’t ask much.
Yesterday was the second-hearing trial, and now that the case was over... maybe he could ask about it.
"The case?"
Wu Chengjun thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"I was writing my paper all day yesterday."
Ever since Xu Liang discovered one particular thing, he’d started a targeted "reform" of Wu Chengjun!
What thing?
Yangchun Noodles can boost work efficiency!
That’s right, Yangchun Noodles can "strengthen yang," but Wu Chengjun was already in his late fifties pushing sixty. No matter how "strengthened" he got it was useless; he would only feel brimming with energy, full of pep.
With energy, you have to vent it, so he’d go running and exercising, then use that healthy body plus all that energy to lead even more project arms races!
Looked at that way, those Yangchun Noodles were basically a stimulant!
But with zero side effects, and they even improved his health.
So, in order to make his own backing stronger and stronger... no, in order to think of Wu Chengjun’s health, Xu Liang used just one week to grind Yangchun Noodles from lv1 all the way up to lv5!
So yes, yesterday Wu Chengjun really had been writing his paper, shutting out the world.
But that didn’t stop Professor Zhang from mocking him.
"Heh, you don’t even know what’s going on with your own student... and you call yourself a teacher? You’re totally unqualified. You’re a beast in human clothing, you love pretending, you old fraud!"
As he spoke.
Professor Zhang turned his head toward the kitchen and said loudly:
"Xu, ever think about changing advisors? Want me to swap you in a competent, responsible one? As long as you say the word, I’ll deliver him right away."
As soon as he said that.
Li Jun, beside him, visibly brightened.
He knew his own advisor had been eyeing Xu Liang for ages, but Li Jun wasn’t jealous at all.
You kidding? He’d heard "other people’s kids" talked up so much his ears had calluses already; better to have Xu Liang just directly call the thief "Dad," so he could hear less of that crap.
Too bad...
"No need. My advisor may get up a bit late, hasn’t found me a teacher’s wife, and doesn’t exactly work very hard."
Xu Liang walked out of the kitchen holding a bowl of noodles, a faint smile on his face.
"But I still only recognize this one advisor."
Hearing that, a trace of comfort showed on Wu Chengjun’s face, along with a bit of guilt.
He was thinking whether he should push himself a bit more, like, say, take on six or seven more projects?
But after thinking about it, he decided to forget it for now and finish the projects he already had on his hands first.
"Alright then."
Professor Zhang sighed.
Then he glared at Wu Chengjun. "You old immortal, hurry up and die. Once you’re dead I’ll inherit your student!"
"Heh, jealous."
Wu Chengjun just said two flat words, and Professor Zhang instantly took psychic damage.
He shot a vicious glare at Wu Chengjun but didn’t say anything more, just kept giving Li Jun these dangerous side-eye glances.
Li Jun pretended not to notice and quietly kept eating his noodles.
Su Yu and the others were still sleeping; they’d been pretty busy the last couple days and needed to catch up on rest today.
Before long, Professor Zhang finished eating, sniped at Wu Chengjun a few more times, then left with his student.
Once he was gone, Xu Liang spoke up too.
"Advisor, I’m taking my junior sister and the others back to Qingshi City this afternoon. It’s been almost two months; time to go back and deal with the firm," Xu Liang said.
Hearing that, something stirred inside Wu Chengjun, and a wave of pure joy surged up.
It was like when your parents leave home when you’re a kid and you finally get to play computer games!
"Mm... mm-hmm."
Pressing down the corners of his mouth, Wu Chengjun suddenly added, "Why not change it to a noon train? Otherwise by the time you get home in the afternoon, it’ll probably be evening."
Xu Liang was surprised, but nodded. "That works too."
Wu Chengjun was overjoyed. "Or... make it a morning one?"
"Advisor, are you in a hurry or something?" Xu Liang asked, puzzled.
"What do you mean in a hurry? Not in a hurry, not even a little."
"Then why are you smiling?"
"The noodles are a bit hot on my teeth. I’m opening my mouth to let them cool off."
Looking at Wu Chengjun, a thoughtful look appeared on Xu Liang’s face.
Meanwhile.
"Creak~"
Professor Zhang pulled the courtyard gate shut. Feeling the warmth spreading from his belly and the flow of heat through his limbs, he only felt incredibly energized, like he’d taken a cold shower in midsummer.
"Sigh, the case is over. I figure Xu will have to leave Upper City too. I really can’t bear it..."
Professor Zhang rubbed his belly and said with some emotion.
Then he paused, a new question popping into his mind.
"That case of Xu’s... how did the second instance rule?"
"In theory, the plaintiff appealing can result in a heavier criminal sentence for the defendant... how many years did the defendant get?"
"Was it Zhu Haoyi and Li Yang who got sentenced?" Professor Zhang wondered aloud.
You couldn’t blame him for being so nosy.
The case was just too big.
The "head-off-to-sue" case—within Upper City’s judicial system, everyone, and I mean everyone, had been shocked when the case broke!
When Professor Zhang first saw the newspaper, he’d even thought it was some fake news.
Now that the case was over, of course he’d care about the result.
"No idea." Li Jun shook his head very honestly.
"What use are you!?"
Professor Zhang shot back, but he didn’t keep grilling him, because someone helped Li Jun out.
A man dressed like a mailman, riding a bicycle, was holding a newspaper and getting ready to stuff it into the mailbox by the courtyard gate.
Professor Zhang stopped, silently watching the mailman shove the paper in.
Then...
"Da-da-da..."
He walked forward two steps.
"Click!"
He directly opened the mailbox, then pulled out a newspaper and started reading.
The newspaper Wu Chengjun subscribed to was his newspaper; reading his own newspaper was perfectly reasonable!
Professor Zhang hadn’t taken it seriously at first, just planned to skim, but when he saw the news in the report above...
"A... spy!?"
Professor Zhang’s brows furrowed, and a grave look surfaced on his face.
"[Shocking: in the ’head-on-a-platter’ lawsuit, the man behind the illegal act turned out to be someone with ulterior motives—his true identity is a spy codenamed ’Young Master Sauce No. 2’...]"
"[A disaster narrowly averted! The truth behind the rare earth case!]"
"[A detailed look at the real story of the Coal Alliance’s collapse years ago...]"
"[The barbarians’ desire to destroy us has never died; a detailed discussion of how dangerous Young Master Sauce No. 2 and Young Master Sauce No. 1 really are!!!]"
"..."
He muttered as he read title after title, and the news behind them also entered his mind.
When he finished reading...
Professor Zhang’s face was now full of shock, his eyes brimming with disbelief.
These are... spies!?
Young Master Sauce No. 2, Young Master Sauce No. 1!?
Zhu Haoyi’s real target wasn’t so-called rare earths, but the extraction and mining technology behind the rare earths?
Professor Zhang’s heart surged like a stormy sea, waves crashing one after another.
Li Jun finished reading and his face showed utter shock.
"Tsk, two spies? And the two biggest ones in the country?"
"The authorities didn’t block this... must mean they’ve already been caught, and it’s officially acknowledged."
Li Jun sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.
This kind of operation had to be prepared in advance to pull off an arrest this fast.
Yet after all the meals he’d mooched off Xu Liang, he hadn’t realized the guy had even planned out catching spies...
Seeing this, Professor Zhang was amazed by Xu Liang’s abilities on one hand, and on the other...
"How is that old bastard Wu Chengjun this damn lucky!?"
Professor Zhang took another deep breath, looking at Li Jun with clear impatience.
"Why can’t you learn from your Senior Brother Xu!?"
"He nabbed two spies in a single case... how about this."
"You learn to cook at noon, and at night you go catch spies too. Don’t ask for two, just catch one!"
Study in the morning, learn to cook at noon, catch spies at night, rest at midnight.
This schedule was ridiculously healthy!
Except...
Li Jun: ....
"Me?"
Li Jun’s mouth twitched. Have him go catch spies?
"Yeah, you!"
Professor Zhang nodded.
"They’re all human, nothing special about them."
"Your teacher believes in you!"
Li Jun: ....
But I don’t believe in myself.
Li Jun fell into silence.
...
...
Public opinion exploded.
When the postman finished hastily delivering all the newspapers rushing to cover the story, the residents were stunned at first, then instinctively felt this had to be fake news.
Until...
They turned on the TV and suddenly discovered that the official channels were also reporting this case, and everyone instantly flew into a rage.
Spies, theft... that was no different from slapping you in the face!
If it were other countries that had been tamed and had no autonomy, their citizens might pretend they hadn’t seen anything, might not even bat an eye if their technology was openly stolen.
But the Eastern Country was different.
The Eastern Country’s biggest hawks were among the people!
So...
The moment the news blew up, countless waves of anger, like the raging Yellow River, surged straight toward the Western Country’s embassy, as if about to grab it by the throat and drown it alive!
Upper City.
Inside the Western Country’s embassy.
Mark had barely woken up, and his face turned ugly the moment he saw the reports.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on with Young Master Sauce No. 1 and No. 2!?"
"How did they get exposed!?"
In the embassy office, Mark stared at the fresh updates on his computer, his expression as dark as it could get as he looked at his subordinate.
As the head of the embassy, he naturally knew about some of the higher-level agents.
He knew Pang Delong and Zhu Haoyi, and even some of the technical intel had passed through his hands!
Training these two had been extremely difficult.
First there was identity: they had to be Eastern Country citizens with Eastern Country nationality, and they had to be indoctrinated and cultivated from childhood. That alone took massive time.
Not to mention, once they reached high positions, they could have been living it up in wine and pleasure, yet they still continued their spy work—without faith, that was almost impossible.
So to them, Pang Delong and Zhu Haoyi were like solid gold nuggets!
But now... they’d both been arrested!!!
"What happened? Where was the leak!?"
Mark roared.
His subordinate was mortified; she had also just woken up to find the situation like this, completely blindsided.
But the priority right now wasn’t figuring out why, but...
"The Eastern Country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is demanding a talk with you right now!"
"Their people are already waiting in the conference room."
His subordinate said with an ugly expression.
"They’re saying a classified-level technology has been leaked, and we must give them an explanation!"
